A win over the World Champion Springboks in Perth last weekend has ignited belief in our Wallabies, one year out from the Rugby World Cup on home soil. The Les Kiss era is well underway, and the smooth transition from Joe Schmidt is complete. And we can’t ignore the growth under Schmidt, unearthing 30-odd players in his tenure, but Kiss has the boys believing in themselves, which has contributed to his unbeaten run.

The big omition under Schmidt was Lukhan Salakai-Loto, who Kiss reinstated as soon as he took over. Voted in the best Super Rugby Pacific team, Salakai-Loto’s performance in the Wallaby jersey has been immence. Why he was overlooked for the British and Irish Lions tests was unbeilivable.

Our focus has now turned to our greatest rivalry, the Bledisloe Cup. On October 10th, we head to Eden Park to try to overturn 40 years of history and finally beat the All Blacks on their favourite playground. The squad assembled has some great additions in Jordan Petai’a and Nick Champion de Crespigny.

Initially added to the squad for Perth, de Crespigny and Petai’a are exciting prospects for building depth. Champion de Crespigny was the standout when the Western Force dismantled the Reds at Suncorp Stadium in Super Rugby Pacific. Kiss coached the Reds when de Crespigny captained the Force to an historic 42-19 victory. It is why the next Wallaby coach has to come from Super Rugby.

Petai’a was coached by Kiss at the Reds when he took over from Brad Thorne, but later pursued his NFL dream. Coming back to rugby via the French system, his talent is well known to Kiss.